Northwestern softball team meets Joe Girardi

Northwestern's
softball team had an exclusive opportunity to meet Yankees manager Joe Girardi
at a spring training game in Florida Tuesday night.

Girardi,
an NU grad, was a three-time All-Big Ten catcher and a 1985 All-American.
Girardi was also an engineering major at NU and graduated in 1986.

Girardi
met the Wildcats on the Yankees' practice field and gave a 20-minute speech on
the keys to success and then held a question and answer session.

His
favorite Northwestern memory involved three-time All-American pitcher Lisa
Ishikawa, who led NU to three Women's College World Series and who graduated
the year after Girardi. People always asked if he batted against her, and he
said, "No way! I didn't want to embarrass myself." He talked about how much
Evanston has changed since he was in school and about how much he loved NU.

Girardi
offered up this nugget of advice before the team left: "In sports and in life,
you will always struggle at some point. Just stick together and look out for
each other."

The
Wildcats also asked about former NU pitcher George Kontos, a Yankees pitcher.
Girardi said Kontos had been out with a lat strain, but Girardi put him in the
spring exhibition in the eighth inning. Kontos' appearance got a huge ovation
from the Wildcats' softball team.